Why is it STILL a woman’s responsibility to teach men how to respect women and understand consent?
Why is the victim the one put on trial instead of the perpetrator? Why are she and her family subjected to harassment, intimidation and threats when they are the ones who deserve support and protection?
Why can’t a teenage girl attend a party without worrying about her safety?
Why can’t a woman go to a bar alone without being judged, labelled or treated as though she is somehow inviting unwanted attention?
Why are women still being told what to wear, how to behave, where they can go and who they should go with to avoid being assaulted?
Why does it take a girl being identified as “Jane Doe” for rape culture and violence against women to finally receive the media attention it deserves?
WHY? WHY? WHY?
When are we going to stop teaching girls how not to get raped and start teaching boys and men that consent, respect and accountability are NON-NEGOTIABLE?
A woman’s clothing is not consent. Being alone is not consent. Going to a party, having a drink, dancing or simply existing in this world is NOT consent.
The responsibility has never belonged to the victim.
We are human beings. Every single one of us deserves to live with dignity, equality, respect and kindness.
Women should not have to live in fear of going for a walk, attending a party, getting into a taxi or simply making their way home.
We should be teaching our daughters that they are free to live their lives, not teaching them to live in fear.
I am Jane Doe. And this conversation needs to happen. Not just today, not just when it makes the headlines, but EVERY SINGLE DAY.
A NOTE FROM OUR CEO:
Written by our CEO, in solidarity with all the women we work with who are, in their own way, Jane Does. Women whose voices deserve to be heard, whose stories deserve to matter, and who deserve to live without fear, judgment or shame.
You are seen. You are heard. You matter.